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4 month for 26 days? MBP Problem

seong

seong

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Feb 11, 2010
1,031
28
Ok, I bought new MBP four weeks ago (damn, I should have ditched the presentation) and I opened up my ol' friend Coconutbattery application.
I haven't carried it around yet, since it was my first 'pro' laptop. I opened it up, and told me there was total of one load cycle of the battery. I looked two more sentences down where it said "age of your mac". It says '4 month'. Is this normal for MBP? Never unplugged it, and says that my Mac is 4 month old when I bought it 26 days ago.....
Could this be a 14 day returned 'refurbished' one?
 
Leaving your machine plugged in all the time hurts the battery worse then running off of battery.. Maybe that was the problem?

Sorry, can't be more helpful.
 
Sn0wball said:
Can anyone else back this up?
Click to expand...

He is correct. When using the laptop, the best way to keep the battery is good condition is to fully charge it, run the battery all the way down, then recharge. Say one day you only used 25% of the battery, dont charge it over night. Run the battery down the next day. (Bring your charger with you obviously). Also, when charging the battery, do not take it off the charger mid cycle. By doing that, you are litterally training the battery to not hold as much juice as before. Hope this helps.
 
Sn0wball said:
Can anyone else back this up?
Click to expand...

I don't have an statistics to offer up, but from my knowledge, I've heard that leaving a battery plugged in all the time isn't the best. Now if you are using the computer and its plugged in, I think that should be fine. But just leaving it idle while fully charged and plugged into the wall can keep the battery hotter, thus possibly causing some negative effects.

But I'm not an expert by any means. :cool:

edit: Leaving it plugged in and idle for longer periods of time. Overnight should be fine. I just mean a few days.
 
It is not really bad keeping it plugged in all the time as it stops charging when fully charged and does not charge again until it drops down below full charge.

AND you should NEVER allow it to discharge completely as L-Ions do not like it and it will shorten their useful life.

There is little you can do that will GREATLY increase you battery life so just use it and enjoy!
 
Is there any battery care function in Macbook Pro (or OS X)? If yes, then I think keeping it plugged should be fine.
 
GregGebhardt said:
It is not really bad keeping it plugged in all the time as it stops charging when fully charged and does not charge again until it drops down below full charge.
Click to expand...
It's not about over-charging. It's about keeping electrons moving. Leaving it plugged in all the time is absolutely bad for a battery.
GregGebhardt said:
AND you should NEVER allow it to discharge completely as L-Ions do not like it and it will shorten their useful life.
Click to expand...
That is absolutely false. Discharging it completely is part of the calibration process, which should be done every 30-60 days. It does NOT shorten the battery life to drain it all the way.
 
I use the computer for 10 hours/day, and it's mainly plugged into the mains. For me the notebook is merely a desktop-replacement computer that I can move from room to room, rather than carrying a huge ATX based PC (tower unit) and external screen around with me, lol.

If I charge the notebook and remove it from the mains it would expire within the day if I didn't plug it in again, as I use it more hours in a day than the number of hours it can hold a charge for in use. If this was the case then I'd be charging and discharging it daily, which would be ~400 full charge cycles a year.

I take it this is really bad for the notebook?

On my old Fujitsu notebook I could flip the battery out and keep it to one side while using the notebook via the mains. Obviously this isn't possible with the unibody as the battery is integrated and not user removable.
 
Sn0wball said:
I
If I charge the notebook and remove it from the mains it would expire within the day if I didn't plug it in again, as I use it more hours in a day than the number of hours it can hold a charge for in use. If this was the case then I'd be charging and discharging it daily, which would be ~400 full charge cycles a year.

I take it this is really bad for the notebook?
Click to expand...
First of all, if you unplug and run on battery for an hour, then plug it back in, that doesn't count as a cycle. A cycle is one full discharge, or two 50% discharges, or four 25% discharges, etc. If you frequently unplug to run on batteries and then plug it in again, that's actually good for the battery, as it keeps the electrons moving. If you mean you run on battery until it's drained every day, it's still not bad for the battery, but you would be using up cycles quicker than the average user. If that's the way you need to operate, do it. A good rule is to use it on battery when you need to and plug it in when you can, as long as you don't leave it plugged in all the time.
 
GGJstudios said:
It's not about over-charging. It's about keeping electrons moving. Leaving it plugged in all the time is absolutely bad for a battery.

That is absolutely false. Discharging it completely is part of the calibration process, which should be done every 30-60 days. It does NOT shorten the battery life to drain it all the way.
Click to expand...

This has been argued over and over and a L-Ion battery has just so many cycles before it looses capacity so you, Sir, are just bringing your battery to an early death. A battery L-Ion battery will last the longest about 3/4 charged and put in a drawer and not used at all. That kinda blows the "keep the ions moving thing" LOL!:eek:
 
GregGebhardt said:
This has been argued over and over and a L-Ion battery has just so many cycles before it looses capacity so you, Sir, are just bringing your battery to an early death. A battery L-Ion battery will last the longest about 3/4 charged and put in a drawer and not used at all. That kinda blows the "keep the ions moving thing" LOL!:eek:
Click to expand...

You need to do more reading. Yes, a battery has only so many cycles. However, calibrating your battery every month or two isn't going to have a huge impact on that. Apple batteries are expected to retain at least 80% capacity for 300 cycles. Following Apple's recommendation for calibration is hardly going to bring an "early death" to a battery! :rolleyes:

The "keep electrons moving" refers to not leaving it plugged in all the time. It has nothing to do with storing a battery.
 
GGJstudios said:
You need to do more reading. Yes, a battery has only so many cycles. However, calibrating your battery every month or two isn't going to have a huge impact on that. Apple batteries are expected to retain at least 80% capacity for 300 cycles. Following Apple's recommendation for calibration is hardly going to bring an "early death" to a battery! :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Apple is in business to SELL batteries.

I would rather you REALLY do your homework and go check out a good site that tells you about battery chemistry so you could learn something! :eek:

I worked for a company that made these batteries for 7 years:D
 
GregGebhardt said:
I worked for a company that made these batteries for 7 years:D
Click to expand...

That doesn't mean anything. Lots of people work for Apple who have nothing to do with building computers. Just because you're employed by a company doesn't make you an expert on what they produce.

From How to prolong lithium-based batteries at BatteryUniversity.com.

A lithium-ion battery provides 300-500 discharge/charge cycles. The battery prefers a partial rather than a full discharge. Frequent full discharges should be avoided when possible. Instead, charge the battery more often or use a larger battery. There is no concern of memory when applying unscheduled charges.

Although lithium-ion is memory-free in terms of performance deterioration, batteries with fuel gauges exhibit what engineers refer to as "digital memory". Here is the reason: Short discharges with subsequent recharges do not provide the periodic calibration needed to synchronize the fuel gauge with the battery's state-of-charge. A deliberate full discharge and recharge every 30 charges corrects this problem. Letting the battery run down to the cut-off point in the equipment will do this. If ignored, the fuel gauge will become increasingly less accurate.
Click to expand...
 
When in doubt, read the directions...

Apple says;

Calibrating a portable computer battery


Calibrating your battery ensures you get the longest possible running time from it. Calibrate your battery during the first week you own it, and then recalibrate it every two months. If you use your computer infrequently, it’s best to recalibrate it at least once a month.
Whenever you purchase new batteries, calibrate them as well.


To calibrate a portable computer battery:

  1. Plug in the MagSafe Power Adapter and fully charge the battery.
    When the battery is fully charged, the light on the MagSafe Power Adapter connector changes to green and the Battery icon in the menu bar indicates that the battery is charged.
  2. Allow the battery to rest in the fully charged state for two hours or longer.
    You can use your computer during this time as long as the power adapter is plugged in.
  3. With the computer still on, disconnect the power adapter and continue to use your computer.
  4. When you see the low battery warning, save your work and close all applications. Keep your computer turned on until it goes to sleep.
  5. After your computer goes to sleep, turn it off or allow it to sleep for five hours or longer.
  6. Connect the power adapter and leave it connected until the battery is fully charged.
    You can use your computer during this time.
 
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